Arbitration clauses, ubiquitous in financial and telecom services, are increasingly used by sellers of consumer products such as dishwashers and televisions. To get a sense of how often, Consumer Reports looked at the top-selling brands in the 10 product categories receiving the most traffic on its website, plus two types of products designed for safety: bike helmets and child car seats.
The results were striking. Of the 117 brand/category combinations examined, 71—more than half—incorporate arbitration clauses. When looking at only the most popular product categories, more than two-thirds had arbitration clauses.
The Consumer Reports article is here.
